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$875 Auction Prius - Drove it home!!

Discussion in 'Newbie Forum' started by hyp3rmil3r, Dec 6, 2019.

  1. Mavi

    Mavi Active Member

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    My god man, that is gross. Good job of cleaning it, as stated above i guarantee the hybrid fan in the back needs to be removed and cleaned. All that dog hair will get in the fan and make it nasty.
     
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  2. hyp3rmil3r

    hyp3rmil3r Member

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    @trentofdestiny thanks for the info, will keep that in mind!

    @dig4dirt and @Mavi
    Yes it is animal hair, dog specifically. How do I know its dog hair? There was some wooden circular thing in the cupholder that reads “DOG TAXI” like it’s supposed to be cute. Definitely not cute, especially when you dont take care of your car.

    The HV battery duct has not been tended to, however in another video I saw that is a very big problem. Luckily it’s winter so heat isn’t a massive issue but I will be cleaning the duct soon to get it done. Seems like an easy job too and very valuable for the battery’s health


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  3. audiodave

    audiodave Active Member

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    What's the oil and coolants look like? Engine air filter? You check those before driving home?
    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  4. hyp3rmil3r

    hyp3rmil3r Member

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    @audiodave I should have but foolishly didn’t. Not to worry, oil/filter, cabin filter, engine air filter, and odor bomb are on the way for this weekends chores on the Prius. I also plan on removing the blower motor to fully clean that out and dump all the acorns that fell into it.

    Anyone have any recommendations for seat cleaning methods? For odor removal and general cleaning? I have cloth. Also the carpets are pretty gross...I may have to toss those, and that may help with odor too.


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  5. mikey_t

    mikey_t Active Member

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    For the odor, maybe a leave a couple open boxes of baking soda in it overnight? For fabric cleaning the seats, I have Woolite cleaner that I got from Amazon and I think it works pretty well. Also, I've found that mixing a 2:1 ratio of hydrogen peroxide / Dawn dish soap does absolute wonders on stains. I've only used it for clothes, but if you have stains in your seats give it a shot. I'd definitely toss the carpets.

    https://amzn.to/2rx70vZ
     
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  6. hyp3rmil3r

    hyp3rmil3r Member

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    Many thanks for the suggestion! Just bought all my parts to get things in order mechanically and “smell” wise. I bought an odor bomb so I’ll post with results here.


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  7. ydpplqbd

    ydpplqbd Active Member

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    When I cleaned up my new-to-me 2006 Prius, I removed the front seats, shampooed the carpets, scrubbed carpets with old time scrub brush and then vacuumed with heavy duty shop vacuum. Carpet came out pretty clean but not brand new. IMHO, I would try cleaning carpets first. If carpets are not cleanable to a presentable level then get a new carpet.
     
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  8. T1 Terry

    T1 Terry Active Member

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    Great score, it has cleaned up real well and looks a treat. I bought an ex taxi that had huge miles on the clock, took ages to get the smell out of it and clean out all the vents where crap had built up from hair and sweat and heavens only knows what else. But once cleaned up it has turned out to be a great work horse and cheap as chips.

    T1 Terry
     
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  9. hyp3rmil3r

    hyp3rmil3r Member

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    @ydpplbd @T1 Terry

    Guess im not the only one cleaning up an old car. I suppose ill try shampooing the carpets and seeing what comes of them. I haven’t ever shampooed carpets and cleaned them so we’ll see what happens.


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  10. TinyTim

    TinyTim Active Member

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    My guess is that this Prius the OP has spent some time in a watery grave. Probably a flooded vehicle at some point in time and dried out.
     
  11. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    The best anti-odor you can do is remove the source. In this case it may be latent moisture, mold, dust, who knows. You already know how to clean that out. Check for rain leaks, especially that back hatch. Then for the lingering scent? Pick up an ozone generator from an equipment rental company. Run an extension cord out to the driveway, seal the machine in there and run it for 2-3 days.

    Often the best way to clean seats & carpets is to unbolt the seats and get them out of the car. You can get at every bit of it with ease.
     
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  12. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    When removing seats, doing it one at a time / day can be your friend for finding ways to do it easier and better. I did a full carpet removal, and cleaning once and there is definitely no substitute for it, put it's a real time consuming unfriendly process.
    I do carpet remnants too. but only on the hottest, driest days of the summer. In the driveway, hose um down, mix laundry detergent in a bucket and scrub with a hard bristled broom. White pile gets bleach in the mix too. Turn um over rinse and repeat. When done, drag um to a set of saw horses and drape them in the sun to air dry. If you get full sun they'll usually dry in one day with luck.

    Be careful of air bags in the seats, but you may want to eventually get to undoing some of the easy parts of the cloth upholstery and getting the cushioning underneath directly.
    Cleaning up after pets can be a challenge, especially when they are not your own special friends.
     
  13. hyp3rmil3r

    hyp3rmil3r Member

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    No, not a flood car. Clean title, no dampness or musty smell. Additionally copart would classify it as water/flood damage. It simply reeks of human/pet odor and the dog hair being everywhere isn’t helping.


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  14. hyp3rmil3r

    hyp3rmil3r Member

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    @Leadfoot @villov Tips and suggestions are appreciated! I’ve considered an ozone generator. I have been thinking about renting a rug doctor with the upholstery attachment. Then I can do all the carpeting and seats in one go over the course of a day. I’ll likely have to remove seats if I want to do it the right way and get all the spots. I’ll look into an ozone generator.


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  15. VFerdman

    VFerdman Senior Member

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    If there was a lot of animal hair in the car, make it a priority to check and clean the hybrid battery cooling fan. The intake for that is in the cabin on the right rear seat back. There is no filter for that, so animal hair will get into the squirrel cage fan and clog it up preventing proper cooling of your hybrid battery. That can be very bad for the battery. It is not difficult to get to (search YT for it) and clean, but is very important, especially when you know there was animal hair contamination in the cabin.

    For the brake job, you do not have to disconnect the 12V battery, although it is not an unreasonable thing to do. After disconnecting the 12V battery many things in the car get reset. Your radio, your clock, your ECU codes, driver's window auto-up function, etc. If you'd rather not disconnect the 12V battery, but still want to make sure the brake system will not decide to activate the brake pump at the worst possible moment, then simply pull the two ABS relays under the hood in the fuse/relay box. They are well marked as ABS relays. If those are out, the brake system will not activate no matter what.

    Also, on front brakes do make sure that you clean out the slide pins and their "nests" of all old grease (use brake cleaner and q-tips) and re-lube them with proper synthetic slide pin grease (not just "any" wheel bearing grease). It is super-important that those pins are properly lubricated. In fact, I would make it a practice to inspect and re-lube them once a year or so as part of routine maintenance. Other than that a front brake job on this car is a cake walk. Super-simple. I would not buy the cheapest RockAuto parts, though. I would do a little research and buy some better stuff. This may very well be the last time you will be replacing brakes on this car, so may as well get something good.

    Good luck with the car, it sounds like you got a great deal and a good project for yourself. I love my 2007 a lot!
     
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  16. hyp3rmil3r

    hyp3rmil3r Member

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    @VFerdman Thanks for all the info! And yes it is a priority item to clean the battery intake vent for the cooling fan. I imagine that will be absolutely grotesque much like the rest of this vehicle. All my parts for the car should be waiting at home for me to tackle this Friday afternoon into late evening. Pics/updates to follow
     
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  17. VFerdman

    VFerdman Senior Member

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    You must clean the fan itself as well as the duct work. That thing gets logged with hair and produces no airflow despite spinning if allowed to get to a bad state. Just check it and it will be obvious.
     
  18. hyp3rmil3r

    hyp3rmil3r Member

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    Sounds like a plan. Will be cleaning the duct and fan! Additionally the blower motor for the cabin will be getting mega cleaned too. It’s atrocious.


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  19. VFerdman

    VFerdman Senior Member

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    Yes, if course! That filter looked nasty. Best of luck! It's all simple stuff. After the cleaning you may also want to change the transmission oil. engine oil, spark plugs and engine air filter. Again, simple and relatively inexpensive items. Make sure to use proper transmission fluid (Toyota WS is recommended) and don't go cheap on the plugs, get the proper iridium ones (Denso SK16R11 or NGK IFR5A11). Those are good for 100K miles.
     
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  20. hyp3rmil3r

    hyp3rmil3r Member

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    Engine oil, oil filter, engine air filter is on the way with all the other stuff. Might do plugs/trans oil down the road. And yes all simple stuff pretty much. It adds up on a heavily neglected car.


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